(Singapore, 16.02.2025) Yesterday, the DAIDAIFU Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine Clinic officially opened, adding a new force to the local traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry in Singapore. Physician Tay Jia-Yin, the founder, hopes to provide professional acupuncture therapy and TCM diagnostic services to a wide range of patients using the wisdom of Chinese medicine and her clinical experience.
Located in the International Plaza, the Daidaifu Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine Clinic is conveniently accessible. Though small in size, it is fully equipped. The clinic’s chief physician Tay has been deeply involved in the field of TCM for 12 years. She spent eight years studying at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, systematically learning integrated Chinese and Western medicine as well as clinical acupuncture. After returning from Beijing,She then served as a senior TCM physician at Raffles Hospital in Singapore for 9 years.
With 17 years of professional training and practice, Physician Tay has accumulated rich clinical experience. Her goal is to provide personalized health management solutions by combining the essence of traditional medicine with modern medical concepts.
The TCM market in Singapore continues to grow, presenting new opportunities for development
As a multicultural city-state, Singapore has seen steady growth in the TCM industry in recent years, with increasing recognition among the public.
According to Singapore’s national open data website, by the end of 2021, there were approximately 3,000 registered TCM physicians and 250 registered acupuncturists in Singapore, with only 46% and 34% of them working full-time, respectively.
By October 2024, the number of registered TCM physicians had increased to 3,400, with 65% (about 2,210) actively practicing. These TCM clinics are spread across the island, offering a wide range of services from traditional acupuncture and massage to modern TCM health management.
Although TCM has not yet been included in Singapore’s healthcare subsidy system, it remains a widely used therapy among many Singaporeans. According to Singapore’s 2022 National Population Health Survey, one in five adult Singapore residents had visited a TCM clinic for treatment in the past year.
The popularity of TCM is largely due to its emphasis on holistic concepts, the use of natural herbs, and the importance of adjusting and improving lifestyle habits to enhance health. These characteristics have attracted increasing attention from urban dwellers who focus on health management and prefer to use TCM to regulate their constitution and improve suboptimal health conditions.
Opportunities and Challenges Coexist: the Key Lies in Combining Tradition and Modernity
During a speech at a TCM event last October, Singapore’s Minister for Health, Mr. Ong Ye Kung, highlighted three aspects of TCM: education and training;preventive healthcare, and the synergy between TCM and mainstream healthcare systems. This reflects the Singapore government’s vision for the future development of local TCM.
Under the guidance of the Singapore TCM Practitioners Board, significant progress has been made in standardizing local TCM practices. The training, assessment, certification, and registration of TCM physicians have been relatively well-established, ensuring that all registered TCM physicians undergo rigorous training and possess a certain level of professional expertise, both in theory and clinical practice.
In addition to two private TCM colleges, TCM courses have also entered university curricula, with admission standards and training reaching tertiary education levels.
Furthermore, the Singapore government is working to integrate TCM into the preventive healthcare system, appropriately leveraging the strengths of TCM to complement Western medicine and provide more comprehensive healthcare for patients.
The government will implement a TCM physician certification framework in 2026 to help identify TCM physicians with higher professional capabilities, serving as a foundation for expanding the Healthier SG initiative.
As the local TCM industry continues to develop in a standardized manner, the government is confident that, building on the international medical community’s acceptance of acupuncture, it can further integrate TCM into Singapore’s overall healthcare system to achieve better medical and health outcomes. However, this will require long-term efforts.
Promoting TCM Culture and Safeguarding Public Health
Physician Tay, in her early thirties, was born in Singapore. Her family values traditional Chinese culture, and her father, Tay Boon-Suat( 戴文雪) has long been engaged in Chinese writing and actively contributes articles, focusing on SME corporate and market developments.
Daidaifu’s clinical focus covers skin health, fertility support & women health, children health, stoke rehabilitation and pain management etc. Physician Tay gave up a stable job environment in a large hospital to start her own clinic, not only to seize an opportunity for personal growth and pursue her dreams but also to help more people recognize and experience the efficacy of TCM, and this will contributing to the local healthcare industry.
The traditional concept of “saving the world with a hanging gourd” (a metaphor for healing the world) has been the guiding principle of old-generation TCM physicians. However, the new generation of TCM practitioners is also growing. While maintaining the characteristics of traditional medicine, they are adapting to the needs of modern society, ensuring that TCM continues to flourish in Singapore and provides warmth and health security to more patients.
